Wawrinka: Federer is back playing good tennis

Stanislas Wawrinka admits it will be difficult for him to remain as the Swiss No.1 ahead of Roger Federer, but is only focused on helping his nation reach the semi-finals of the Davis Cup.

Wawrinka became the top-ranked player in Switzerland after lifting his maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open, and alongside Federer will lead Switzerland's World Group encounter against Kazakhstan in Geneva beginning on Friday.

While Wawrinka says he "deserves" to be ahead of Federer and the No.1 player in the team, he does feel the return to form of Federer in 2014 will see the record 17-time major winner reclaim the spot at some point during the year.

"Roger is back playing good tennis, he is confident, and I'm sure he'll play amazing tennis the rest of the year, so I'm sure it's going to be tough to stay No. 1, but that's not my goal. My goal is to play well and make some great results and to win the tie," Wawrinka said.

Federer has won a title in Dubai and reached the finals of Indian Wells and Brisbane, and after claiming just one tournament victory in 2013 has recovered from a back problem that hampered his movement during the majority of the campaign.

Wawrinka will play the first singles rubber against Andrey Golubev, with Federer taking on Mikhail Kukushkin, who is the highest-ranked player in the Kazakhstan team at world No.56. Both Federer and Wawrinka are scheduled to play the doubles rubber on Saturday.